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Thursday, 31 July 2014

Entombed A.D. - Back To The Front (Album Review)

Album
Type: Full Length

Date
Released: 4/8/2014

Label: Century Media

‘Back To The
Front’ CD/DD/LP track listing

01. Kill To
Live (04:43)

02. Bedlam
Attack (04:44)

03. Pandemic
Rage (04:02)

04. Second To
None (04:27)

05. Bait And
Bleed (04:37)

06. Waiting
For Death (02:57)

07. Eternal
Woe (05:08)

08. Digitus
Medius (06:00)

09. Vulture
And The Traitor (04:45)

10. The
Underminer (02:57)

11. Soldier Of
No Fortune (06:48)

12. Gospel Of
The Horns (04:34)*

* Bonus Track
available on Limited Edition Mediabook

The
Band:

L-G Petrov | Vocals

Nico Elgstrand
| Guitars

Olle Dahlstedt
| Drums

Victor Brandt
| Bass

Review:

Entombed
are, without a doubt, one of the most important bands in extreme metal. Anyone
who has ever heard ‘Left Hand Path’ or ‘Wolverine Blues’ will tell you that is
the truth. They created Death and Roll, defined a genre's guitar sound and
rocked harder than anyone this side of Motorhead for most of their records.
Conversely, they have also confounded fans with albums such as “Same
Difference”, nearly made it very big in the mid 90's with a major label deal
and- more recently- lost all their members barring iron throated front man LG
Petrov. It is with some interest and consternation that I approach this album,
then. With no Alex Hellid and no one else you would recognise from the glory
days, this is a different band. Let's make it clear this is NOT Entombed- it is
Entombed AD and I will treat it as such; kind of an extension to the original
form. Comparisons are, however, inevitable.

‘Kill To Live’ opens things. Not death metal,
certainly- this is more akin to Entombed mid to late 90's work and sets us up
for what follows. ‘Bedlam Attack’
is again not exactly ferocious but is well structured and stomps out of the
speakers with some purpose and some speedy bits here and there. If you were
disappointed with Entombed's return to more death-y territory on Serpent
Saints, this album may satisfy your craving To Ride, Shoot straight and so on.

‘Pandemic
Rage’ opens with violins and guitar (not like Rhapsody or something- it's an
intro!). The band then swaggers for the first time. That swinging groove is
present until the thrash beats kick in. The best track so far, on first listen-
compete with leads! ‘Second To None’
features a half stepping riff- a little like ‘Say it in Slugs’ (what a track that is!) and again swaggers and
grooves like it is roughly 1995. Good stuff.

‘Bait
and Bleed’ features a pretty cool title, a clean strummed intro and then a
slower burning track than you might expect. The pace does pick up, of course,
but it marks a more unusual side to the band. Petrov's voice remains intact and
is as beastly as ever. Great front man and in possession of a unique voice-
being as it is both brutal and clear at the same time. ‘Waiting
for Death’pushes the record over the half way point with a track
of more straightforward thrash/death. Again, though, it is not warp speed and
not overly brutal. The chorus will stick in your head- good writing- and lifts
the track above other bands who do this kind of thing. Short and sharp this is a good song and
perhaps one to listen to if you were unsure about whether to check the record
out.

‘Eternal Woe’ has the guitar sound and tone to the
riff that we know and love and allows the band to chug along like a diesel
engine while ‘Digitus Medius’
throws in a rather death metal intro before the song lays down a rumbling
groove reminiscent of Entombed's work on the “Inferno” album. The riffing is
good here and makes the track something of a stand out- along with some
memorable lyrics, too. ‘Vulture and
The Traitor’ echoes the rhythms found on “Wolverine Blues” to an extent,
but it doesn't have the bite of the songs contained on that record- that is not
to say it's a bad thing; just different.

‘The Underminer’ puts the pedal to the metal with some
blast beat action (!) and quick picking to boot. Again, it is short and sharp
and one of the more aggressive tracks on offer here. Despite an acoustic guitar
overdub (listen out) this is thunderous stuff! ‘Soldier of No Fortune’ actually features an acoustic guitar to
open and a piano (not unprecedented on Entombed's albums) and is a slow burner
of nearly seven minutes playing time. It features a triplet groove that works
well for the main riff sections and the band again display good groove.

The
verdict? This is a good album. It is not “Left Hand Path” or “Clandestine”, by
any means, but neither is it “Same Difference.” I am enjoying it more than
Serpent Saints (if that is of any contextual help, which I doubt). Entombed A.D.
are essentially a more polite version of the Entombed of 15-20 years ago. If
you enjoy Petrov's vocals and mid to late period Entombed, there is much to
love here. If you want pure Swedish death metal, this is not the album for you.
Get hold of Dismember's latter day releases instead. A light still burns here,
but not as intensely as it once did.

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